Cartridge-feeder for machine-guns



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

L. P. BRUCE.

CARTRIDGE FEEDER FOR MACHINE GUNS. No. 351,960. Patented Nov. 2, 1886.

' BY a49 4%;

ATTO RN EY (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

LE. BRUCE.

CARTRIDGE FEEDER FOR MAGHINE GUNS.

Patented Nov.

- INVENTOR @ZWL ATTORNEY WITNESSES Mr ZZA UNITED STATES LUCIEN F. BRUCE, OF SPRINGFIELD,

MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE GATLING GUN COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

CARTRIDGE-FEEDER FOR MACHINE-GUNS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,960. dated November 2, 1886.

Application filed December 7, 1885. Serial No. 184,877. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: v

Be it known that I, LUOIEN F. BnUcE, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Spring- This invention relates to improvements incartridgc-feeders for machine-guns, and is in the nature of an improvement on the feeder for which a patent was granted to me September 20, 1881, No. 247,158, to which reference may be had, the object being to provide by said improvement means whereby cartridges may be put into said patented feeder, or into others having like grooves for receiving cartridges, with the required rapidity,while the gun to which the feeder is attached is being fired at an excessive elevation.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure l is a side elevation of the breech portion of a Gatling gun, in which the barrels are secured, having applied thereto cartridge-feeding devices embodying my improvements, this figure showing parts of several barrels in connection with said breech portion, and the latter,as represented by the dotted diagram drawn thereon, being shown as it stands at an elevation of eighty degrees, thereby illustrating the position of the cartridge-feeder at said elevation, the latter being shown with its upper endbroken off and with cartridges thereon, and a box of the latter with the outlined form of the hand of the operator, illustrating the manner of manipulating said box to place the cartridges on the feeder. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the part of the feeder embodying my improvements and the upper end of said patented feeder, portions of two cartridges being shown in dotted lines thereon. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the feeder together with a portion of the breech part of the gun. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on a line to the left of the partition between the two cartridge-grooves, Fig. 2,

showing in side elevation a box of cartridges (with the bottom broken 0E) in'the position in which it is placed on the feeder by the operator.

It will be understood that the extension or cartridge table referred to must be as'long at least as the regulation box or packing-case in which cartridges are transported, or the cartridges beyond the end thereof in the packing-case would drop out; also, that but one side rest is required on this table, against which rest the packing-case will be pressed before the cartridges are conveyed to the guiding-groove.

It is well known that the cartridges which are ordinarily used in machine-guns are packed for transportation and service use in paper boxes of about twenty each, (ten in a row,) bullet ends down, and separated from each other by suitable partitions. To place said cartridges in the feeder the operator removes the cover of the box, and, holding the latter above the end of the feeder, turns the box so that the plane of the base of the grooves in the feeder and the plane of the primed ends of the cartridges coincide, and then the box is moved toward the gun, carrying the heads of the two rows of cartridges into the grooves of the feeder, and then drawing the box off from the cartridges.

The above-described manipulation of cartridges in connection with said patented feeder, when the latter stands nearly perpendicular on a gun but slightly elevated, is easily performed; but when the gun is being fired (as is now frequently the practice) at a great elevation-say at eighty degrees, more or less-for the purpose of dropping projec tiles behind fortifications, the said patented feeder cannot be used with any-efficiency,

for the reason that under such conditions the cartridge-box must be turned so nearly bot tom side up to engage the cartridges in the grooves of the feeder that they fall out of the box before they reach the latter, and the main purpose of this invention is to provide, in conjunction with a groove feeder of the class herein referred to, an extension or cartridge table projecting beyond the end of the grooved portion of said feeder, having no cartridgegrooves thereon, on which the cartridges are placed heads down, as. shown in Fig. 1, regardless of the inclined position (more or less) of the feeder, and from thence are carried into the grooves of the latter.

In the drawings, A indicates a portion of the breech of a machine gun, and B portions of the barrels thereof.

D is the feeder, secured by its foot/E to said breech,the short single groove b of said patent, below the vibrating double-groovedconductor. a thereof, (herein indicated by F,) which receives the cartridges from the conductor,ex-

tending from under the lower end of the latter though the feeder-foot E, to guide the cartridges-into the gun, as described in said patent. Said short single groove is not shown in the drawings'of this application H is the support or back, which-extends upward from said single-grooved lower part of having a rectangular opening in it, and at the upper end of said opening to the cross portion b of the frame a is attached one end of a tongue, 0, the latter being of metal and flexible for a ,certain distance below its attached end, and

from its lower end upward it is made thicker,, as at d, and has the lip ethereon and the groove :1: at its lower end. Thelower cross portion of the frame a,below the free end of thetongue 0,

frame.

is indicated by the letter 9. On one side of frame a is the rib or border h,standing at-right angles to the flat side of the tongue 0, a narrow rib being provided on the oppositeside of said At the lower end of frame a, on each side thereof, is formed a lip, i, which extends over the side of the back H, forming grooves in the frame, which the edges of the latter enter, and thereby provision is made for sliding frame a up and down on said back, the position of said frame when slid up or extended being shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, and when drawn down in Fig. 3. A thin projection, o, is made on the upper end of the back H,.which enters the groove a: in the lower end of the tongue 0. V V

The operationofmyimprovements is as follows: The feeder, when not in use, is carried,

with its, parts in the position shown in Fig.

3--that is to say, *with said cartridge-table drawn downward behind the back H- -and toso place said extension the latter is moved upward slightly from the position shown; in

Zsuiilciently to disengage the lower end of tongue 0 from the projection w on back .H

when the said end of the tongue is pushed backward to carry it clear of the upper end of the back, and thenthe entire cartridge-table, framea, and tongue 0 are pushed down-V ward to the position shown in Fig. 3, and when the feeder is to be used said extension is drawn upward far enough to bring the end of the tongue 0 above said projection 0, when the tongue is sprung oven the end of the back H to bring the groove :0 over said projection 0, when said table is moved downward to engage the tongue with the'said projection, as shown in Fig's..2 and 4, thereby securing the lower end of said tongue in such a position that its said end is brought into substantially the same plane as the base 11. of the two groovcs in the conductor F. The operator then takes the box J of cartridges, (first removing the cover thereof,) and, turning it onto the table a, in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 4, moves the cartridges toward the end of the conductor F, carrying their heads into the grooves thereof,-and forcing them to pass through and out of said conductor into the gun, the cartridges in this in Fig. 1, acting under the force imparted by the hand of the operator much as they dowhen the feeder is so much elevated that they move down the conductor by gravitation. The border h on the extension a is located on the edge-of the latter opposite to that near which the operator stands, and serves as an abutment or guard to prevent the cartridges from being pushed ofl laterally when they are being rapidly placed on the extension or cartridge table, and moved on to the conductor F. If desired, the table a maybe secured in its extended position, giving the feeder permanently the form shown in Fig. 1; but it is much more eonvenientlypacked for transportation when the table can be slid down behind the back H. It is-obvious that the feeder, for all uses in a perpendicular position, or nearly so, may be as conveniently employed with the table a extended or not. Said cartridge-table may be used. with equal advantage in connection with a fixed double-grooved conductor, or with one which has a vibratory motion, as above described.

been patented having flaring side guides and ceive the heads of the shells, the back being also extended. l

What I claim as my invention is-' 1. The improvement in feed-cases for machine-guns, which consists of the combination, with the double-grooved cartridge-conductor,

a rest at one side, substantially as described.

2. A cartridge-table for cartridge-feeders for machine-guns,consisting of a rectangular frame provided with a sliding connection, substantially as v gages with the back H of thevfeeder, a flexible tongue having a groove in its lower end,

opening in said frame and capable of avibrathe double-grooved conductor of said feeder,

case, when the feeder is but little inclined, as j IIO ' I am aware that a cartridge feed-case has back extending above the channels which re of a table extended beyond the end of said (3031- ductor a distance at least equal to the length 7 V of the service packing-case, said table having" 4 described, whereby said frame en-,

secured by "one end thereof to one end of the toryiinovement in the latter, combined with.

ss1.9eo I and the back thereof having a projection on {bined with the tongue a, secured byone end its end toenter said groove in the tongue, sub-- to said frame, and having itsopposite' end en-: 10 stantially as set forth. 7 gaging with said back, substantially as set 3. Anextension cartridge-table for machineforth.

5 gun feeders, consisting of a'rectangular frame,

snbstantially as described, having a lip, i, on Witnessesz- A each edge thereof for engagement with the .H. A. CHAPIN, bad]: of the feeder, and the rib h thereon, com- I WM, 11'. CHAPIN.

Leone's-r. BRUCE. j t 

